This fall, the National Civic League is working with the local disability community here in Colorado to sponsor a series of Denver Accessibility Listening Sessions. The Denver Division of Disability Rights (DDDR) recently contracted with the League to hold multiple listening sessions throughout the city around accessibility of Denver’s City and County facilities. These public sessions seek to gather input from people with disabilities on barriers and obstacles to using facilities owned by the City, including parks, libraries, recreation centers, and government buildings. The feedback will help inform the City which of these spaces are to be prioritized for improvement in order to be more accessible. This information will guide long-ranging plans related to physical and programmatic access in the City and County of Denver.
The League is committed to advancing civic engagement and supporting equitable and thriving communities. In line with our mission, we are co-creating the program with local individuals with disabilities and disability rights advocacy organizations in order to have robust engagement around this important issue of city accessibility.
For those in the Denver area, we invite you to join the upcoming Denver Accessibility Listening Sessions! It is vital that we hear from members of the disability community, particularly those who may not regularly be heard from, including individuals with visible/non-visible disabilities and especially from people of color with disabilities. In the months of November and first week of December, there will be at least one meeting in every City Council district. Locations and times can be found below, as well as on Denver’s Division of Disability Rights website. Coming soon to the DDDR site, will be a digital survey for those in the local area to also contribute their experiences with access to City-owned spaces.
If you have any questions or comments please contact Keiva Hummel, National Civic League’s Civic Engagement Program Director, at keivah@ncl.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
Upcoming Denver Accessibility Listening Sessions
- District 11 Nov. 6 at Montbello Recreation Center, 6pm – 7:30pm
- District 7 Nov. 7 at Atlantis Community Inc., 3pm – 4:30pm
- District 6 Nov. 9 at AdvocacyDenver, 10am – 12pm
- District 1 Nov. 12 at Quigg Newton Community Center, 4:30pm – 6pm
- District 4 Nov. 13 at Whitcomb & Selinksy Law Office, 2pm – 3:30pm
- District 9 Nov. 13 at The Center for African American Health, 6pm – 7:30pm
- District 4 Nov. 14 at Stout Street Health Center, 1pm – 2:30pm
- District 10 Nov. 17 at History Colorado Center, 12pm – 2pm
Admission to the museum is free for event attendees of the Nov. 17th session
- District 8 Nov. 18 at The Dahlia Center, 10:30am – 12pm
- District 2 Nov. 19 at All Saints’ Church, 6pm -7:30pm
- District 3 Nov. 20 at Denver Indian Health and Family Services, 10:30am – 12pm
- District 5 Nov. 21 at Boulevard One Residencies, 10am – 11:30am
- District 3 Dec. 2 at Sun Valley Kitchen, 11am -12:30pm
These events are free to the public and we also encourage the attendance of loved ones, advocates, and organizations in the local Denver disability community who use City-owned spaces. You don’t need to live in the specific City Council district to attend, all local community members are welcome to any meeting! These events can provide sign language interpreters and CART services. To access these services please contact SignLanguageServices@denvergov.org with at least a three (3) business days notice.
